The Life of Teddy Lupin
by LupinPotter
Summary: My name is Leah Higgins and I'm Teddy Lupin's best friend. This is the story of us growing up and the many shenanigans we get up to. A tale of fun, Quidditch, friendship, love and, most importantly... Magic.
1. The Journey to Hogwarts

Platform nine and three-quarters was full of people weaving in and out of each other trying to find their friends and family. It was almost impossible to find someone in the sea of bodies, but one young boy was easily identifiable. He had short blue hair spiked up with green tips. He stood with a man with messy black hair and green eyes with a faded lightning bolt scar upon his forehead and a middle aged woman with long thick wavy brown hair with a few stray grey ones sneaking in. She had a look of slight disapproval on her face.

"Teddy!" she admonished the young boy. "At least change your hair to something that doesn't quite clash as much."

"But Grandma-"

She cut him off. "No buts Teddy. I won't have you entering Hogwarts on your first day looking like a clown."

The young boy sulked, but scrunched up his face until his hair flattened and became his favourite turquoise. The black-haired man looked on with amusement in his eyes and knelt down next to his Godson and whispered in his ear. "Don't worry Ted, your Grandma won't know if you change it while at Hogwarts." He stood up and winked at him and Teddy tried to hide his grin.

His Grandma noticed, but decided to let it go. It was, after all, his first year at Hogwarts. She remembered when she first sent her daughter off. Teddy reminded her so much of young Dora. He was so kind and loving, but strong and independent and quite cheeky at times. She smiled down at him. "Be a good boy Teddy. Your parents would be so proud of the wonderful young boy you've become." Teddy beamed and hugged her tight.

"I'll miss you Grandma." His eyes were glistening with unshed tears, but he held them back. He didn't want to be seen as a cry baby before he had even started school.

"I'll miss you too pumpkin." She was holding back her own tears. Teddy smiled at the pet name she used only for him. "But it isn't long until Christmas and we'll write to you at least once a week." Teddy nodded and pulled away.

"No hug for your favourite Godfather Teddy?"

Teddy giggled at Harry's mock indignation. "You're my only Godfather Harry! You're my favourite and my worst. Take your pick." He stuck his tongue out at him, but hugged him anyway. He pulled away after a few seconds when the whistle went. "I'd better go! Goodbye Grandma! 'Bye Harry!" He ran towards the nearest train door dragging his heavy trunk behind him and tried to hoist it up into the train.

Harry, seeing his Godson struggle, laughed inwardly and went over to help him, before almost colliding with a timid looking girl. "Sorry!" he exclaimed. "Are you alright?" The young girl looked up at him nervously before giving a quick nod. "Do you need any help?" The girl quickly shook her head and half ran, half walked away onto the train. Harry watched her go before turning back to where he had seen Teddy, but the young boy had obviously already gone.

The train started pulling away when Harry saw his Godson pop up at a window grinning and waving at him. Harry waved and smiled back. "Good luck Teddy!"

Teddy couldn't hear his Godfather's voice over the noise of the train, but he could read his lips. A warm glow settled in Teddy's stomach as he waved to his Grandma and Godfather as the train sped away. He watched as the last of Harry's sparkling green eyes disappeared before going to find a compartment.

He walked down the aisle, walking past compartments full with students reading, laughing, scheming and finishing off summer homework at the last minute. He eventually came across a compartment with a small girl, sitting with her knees under her chin and her arms hugging her legs, staring out of the window with a serene expression on her face.

Teddy watched as the London skyscrapers and cranes dissolved into the rolling hills of the countryside. The girl hadn't moved, she looked frozen in time, like a muggle photograph. She was alone, so Teddy figured that she needed a friend. Everywhere else was full, so he figured that he should try to be that friend.

He slammed the door open with a shuddering crash and it reverberated in the door frame. He winced and gave a sheepish grin to the girl, who had seemed to snap out of her reverie and had a startled expression on her face. Her legs dropped to the floor and she seemed to tense up.

"Hello." He walked in and shoved his trunk under the seat and sat opposite her. She seemed quite small and thin for her age with dark brown hair and pale face, like she rarely saw the sun.

She mumbled a greeting in reply and watched him warily. "Cheer up!" He couldn't understand why the girl was acting so odd. "Aren't you excited? Dad's told me everything there is to know about Hogwarts, even a few secrets we shouldn't." He winked at her, but he never had managed to master the wink and the girl looked slightly concerned as if he looked like he was in pain. "Although, he's not my real dad of course. My Dad died in the war." He straightened in his seat as he felt proud whenever he thought about his parents.

Harry had explained to him a number of years ago about how his parents had died. At first, he hated that they had left him alone to grow up without my parents, but he eventually understood that they had gone to fight so that he could grow up without the threat of Voldemort and the prejudice he would face as the son of a werewolf.

He noticed that the girl looked slightly confused. "Was your dad a soldier?" she asked after a bit of hesitation.

"A soldier?" The word sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember what it meant. "Oh! You mean the muggle version of aurors?" He remembered hearing Aunt Hermione talk about them once, explaining the difference between them and aurors to Uncle Ron. "No, he er...had a bit of a problem...he couldn't get a job because of his...condition..." he trailed off. The girl looked even more confused than ever, but obviously decided to let it go.

She had spaced out for a moment as if in deep thought, but suddenly asked, "So, what's your name? I'm Leah Higgins." She forced a smile onto her face in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood.

'Merlin, where are my manners? I'd forgotten to introduce myself! Thank Merlin that Grandma isn't here,' he thought to himself. "Teddy Lupin. Don't you recognise me from the papers?" he smirked at her before changing into various different hairstyles, colours and shape of his face into the different 'disguises' he had worn when out with my family. The girl looked even paler than before, if that was possible, and had a look of complete and utter shock. 'Hm, maybe that was a bit too much at once,' he thought.

"H-how d-do you d-do that? Can you teach me?" she stuttered getting gradually higher in pitch. She had that look in her eye again that told him that she was deep in thought. He wondered whether she would end up in Ravenclaw. A small smile gradually crept onto her face with an ever so slight manic look in her eye.

He got a bit uncomfortable and tried to imagine what thoughts must be going through her head. He decided he needed to crush whatever plans she was concocting. "Sorry, I'm a metamorphmagus, I was born this way. It's not something that you can learn."

He avoided her eye and shuffled in his seat, still feeling quite uncomfortable. He looked up and saw that she had slumped in her seat looking a bit put out. He tried to change the subject. "You're a muggleborn aren't you? What's it like to live with muggles?"

"Well, I wouldn't really know how a _normal_ muggle lives," she said petulantly. It was her turn to feel uncomfortable. "My parents died in a fire when I was very young. I went to live with my Grandfather, but he was quite old and losing his daughter just made him much worse. He wasn't able to look after me so I got sent to a children's home."

She must have seen his perplexed face and elaborated. "A children's home is basically where you get sent if you're under 18 and you haven't got anyone suitable to look after you. I suppose it's a modern term for an orphanage. There's a mix of orphans like myself as well as children who were taken off their parents because they were neglected and children of parents that have been sent to prison.

"Anyway, my Grandad died just a year later, so I never knew my parents. I don't even know their first names. I asked once, but apparently there's no record of them. It's like they never even existed. It confused my care workers for a while, but they must have found out why eventually because it was never mentioned again. They act like they've forgotten it was _ever_ mentioned.

"I find it easier to think of them as two faceless people who brought me into the world anyway, rather than know lots about them and know that I can never meet them." Teddy was horrified. He had lost both his parents while he was young too, but at least he had people who remembered them and loved him like he was their own son. He told Leah as much.

"Yeah, you're lucky, but it doesn't bother me so much now. I've just accepted that I will never know them," she said. However, Teddy could tell that she was trying to hide the despair she felt at never knowing her parents so decided to talk about something else.

They spent the next couple of hours or so with Teddy explaining various things about the wizarding world that she hadn't already read including Quidditch, the Hogwarts houses, the subjects they will be learning and even talking about the war in more detail than can be found in the history books and on a much more personal level.

The trolley lady arrived and Leah headed out to buy as much as she could afford, which didn't appear to be much. She had tried to justify that it was simply for an experiment to compare muggle to wizard sweets. Judging by the small smile playing on her lips and the eagerness in which she headed over for the trolley, that wasn't the main reason.

She rushed back in with a box of every flavour beans, a packet of fizzing whizbees and a chocolate frog. "Teddy, there's some guys going into every compartment looking for you," she stated as she sat back down and started opening the box of every flavour beans.

"Really? What did they look like?" He replied feeling confused. He didn't know anyone on the train.

"There's a boy with light brown hair and he has a small slightly upturned nose, thick eyebrows and freckles. The other one has blonde hair spiked up at the front and he's really cute!" she exclaimed before turning slightly pink. "I just said that out loud, didn't I?" she asked timidly. Teddy just nodded amusedly.

"Well, I don't know them, so let's make sure they won't be able to find me." He scrunched up his face and his hair turned long and black and eyes a sky blue. "There, how do I look?" he asked with a smirk.

"I really wish I was able to do that," She sighed. "You look fine, nothing like you at all."

"And how do you know what I really look like?" he smirked, but before she could reply the compartment door slid open and a brown haired boy came in followed by a taller blonde haired boy.

"Have either of you two seen Teddy Lupin? My father told me he was in the same year as us." The brown haired boy spoke and the other boy just nodded and rubbed the back of his neck as if he was slightly embarrassed about asking about a boy neither of them had met.

"Sorry, who? Is he famous or something? Do you even know him?" Leah spoke up before putting another jelly bean into her mouth.

"Erm, well he normally has odd coloured hair. Like green or blue or purple." The blonde boy spoke up, ignoring the last two questions.

"Ew!" Leah spat out the jelly bean. "What the hell are they doing making mud flavoured jelly beans!" She put the box down and moved onto a chocolate frog while she tapped her chin and looked like she was trying to remember something. Teddy thought the girl was a bit strange. "You know, I think I did see someone with turquoise hair."

The boys looked excited. "Really? Where?"

"On the platform. He was getting onto the train."

"Great! Did you see where he went after that?"

"No, this man with messy black hair and green eyes bumped into me and I lost sight of him." Teddy could tell she was trying to fight off a grin, but the other boys didn't seem to notice. Their eyes just widened, looking like they might pop out of their skulls. He couldn't help but feel a little shocked as well. That sounded like his Godfather, but his Godfather is always aware of his surroundings because of being an auror and having 'constant vigilance!' drilled into him since he was 14.

"D...did he have a scar? On his forehead?"

"Shaped like a lightning bolt?" The brown haired boy added.

Leah seemed to contemplate this for a second. "Actually, I think he did. Why?"

"You met Harry Potter!" they both shouted at once, looking in awe at Leah.

"The guy that survived the killing curse when he was one year old? The man who destroyed Voldemort once and for all? The man who is the youngest person to ever become head of a department at the ministry?" she asked very quickly and excitedly. She was almost falling off her seat with her bouncing up and down on the seat which surprised Teddy because it had been the opposite of the way she had been acting for the past couple of hours.

The boys just nodded their heads vigorously. "No, you must be mistaken," she deadpanned, all excitement suddenly gone as if it was never there. "This man was really clumsy and just kept apologising and asking if there was anything he could do."

Teddy was really struggling not to laugh. Now that was definitely something his Godfather would do, but most people had a completely different image in their heads. "But...the scar...he has to be Harry Potter," the brown haired boy said desperately.

"Surely there are more people that just happen to have a scar on their head that have black hair and green eyes? I mean there's what? A few hundred million wizards in the world? And you're telling me that only one fits that description?"

The boys just stared at her opening and closing their mouths as if they were trying to say something to contradict her logic. "But...he's Harry Potter," the smaller boy finished lamely.

"Mhm. Anyway, I haven't seen Teddy so could you leave us so that we can get changed please?" She smiled sweetly at them. The boys just nodded and backed out with incredibly confused expressions on their faces, like they couldn't work out which way was up.

He couldn't hold it in any longer and Teddy started laughing uncontrollably. Leah watched him and then giggled softly. "I...I think...you...broke them!" he exclaimed between laughs. They both laughed for a couple of minutes and when it died down Leah smiled at him properly for the first time since the train ride began, a smile that showed off her crooked teeth, but reached her eyes and made them twinkle. She would have a beautiful smile if her teeth weren't quite so crooked. He wished she would smile more. He resolved to make sure that her time at Hogwarts was a good one and would reverse all the damage done by being brought up in a children's home.

They talked for a while more before getting changed into their robes and waiting in silent anticipation as the train pulled in to the station. Teddy's stomach started twisting in knots and he could see that Leah had turned even paler. She looked really ill.

When the train finally stopped, they pushed our way through the crowds and onto the tiny platform, lit with only a couple of street lamps. He looked around until he saw the familiar face of the half giant Hagrid and felt myself calm down. Leah stiffened behind him and whispered "Wh-who is that?"

"His name is Hagrid. Don't worry he isn't as scary as he looks, he's a good friend of my Dad, helped him out a lot while he was in Hogwarts," Teddy reassured her.

"When you say your dad, do you mean your real one or your Godfather?"

"Well, both I guess, but I was mainly talking about Harry. Sorry, I've known him all my life and he has been my Dad since mine is dead. So I call him Dad, but not to his face anymore. I used to when I was younger because I didn't really know any different, but I think it made him uncomfortable because he doesn't want to replace Remus Lupin." He was rambling, but Leah put an arm around him and pulled him into a hug. He was slightly taken aback, but relaxed into it and let her hold him.

"Firs'-years over here! C'mon, follow me - anymore firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!" Hagrid's booming voice carried over the crowd and Leah pulled away and grabbed Teddy's hand and followed after Hagrid.

He barely took notice of his surroundings. He heard Hagrid's voice and the other kids exclaiming with oohs and ahhs, but he wasn't paying attention. He was thinking about the person currently attached to his hand. At first glance, she didn't look like anything special, but underneath she was nothing but special.

She was incredibly shy and had seemed slightly awkward at first, but he supposed she didn't really meet many people. She was intelligent, funny and witty. He remembered the encounter with the two boys on the train. But she also seemed to be the first person to ever really understand him. She had hugged him. He didn't realise himself that he wanted one, but she had. And now here she was, holding his hand and leading him to the boats. He wondered what was going on in that beautiful mind of hers.

He hadn't realised he was staring at her until she smiled shyly at him and released his hand before coughing slightly and looking away and getting into the boat. He hadn't even realised they had arrived already and smiled nervously at her while mentally kicking himself for making her uncomfortable and got into the boat.

Two girls walked over blushing slightly. "Do you mind if we join you?" One of the girls asked.

"Sure," Teddy smiled brightly and the two girls got in.

"Hi, I'm Rebecca Millan, but you can call me Beck," Beck said smiling sweetly at Teddy. She had perfectly straight blonde hair and perfect smile with perfectly straight teeth that made her bright blue eyes twinkle. She seemed completely flawless.

He gaped at her before forcing out a reply, "Wotcher, Beck." Wotcher? He wondered where the hell that had come from. He quickly glanced at Leah and noticed an odd look in her eye.

The other girl coughed slightly, probably not liking being ignored. "And I'm Elga Cornfoot, but _please_ call me El. I hate the name my mother forced upon me." She made a disgusted face. However, she still managed to look gorgeous even with that look on her face.

She had wavy light brown hair that fell past her shoulders. There was a light spattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks against her lightly tanned skin. Her grey eyes seemed almost hypnotising and Teddy felt himself being drawn in before he heard Hagrid shouting for them to keep their heads down as they passed through a curtain of ivy and into an opening in the cliff face.

They finally arrived at the underground harbour and scrambled out onto the rocks and pebbles. They followed the rest of the students up the flight of stairs. He kept trying to catch Leah's attention, but she wouldn't look at him and he began to wonder if he had done something to upset her. He missed the feel of her hand, which confused him greatly.

They reached a great oak door and Hagrid lifted his great fist and pounded on the door three times. He looked up in awe. This was it. His first year at Hogwarts was about to begin. This was the moment he had been waiting for the past 11 years. He hoped it would help him connect with his parents and he wished with all his heart that he would end up in either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.

The door swung open and he took a deep breath and entered with the other first years.


	2. The Sorting Ceremony

The door swung open and I looked up to see the tall middle-aged professor who had first told me that I was a witch. He had slicked back brown hair with tanned skin. He wore black robes that were tight around the arms, showing off his bulging muscles. He had very prominent cheek bones and angled eyebrows which gave him a stern look. A very attractive stern look. But his best feature was his eyes. They were a golden amber, but the iris appeared to be swirling around the pupil. They were mesmerising.

He caught me looking and winked at me before turning his attention to the rest of the students. "Follow me," he said using his 'teacher' voice. He had an Eastern European accent, but I couldn't quite place it. When he had first met me he had seemed very fun-loving and care-free, always wearing a smile. He had even let me call him by his first name, Tristan. He told me however, that when they were at school I would have to call him Professor Constantin and he would use what he called his 'teacher voice'.

I looked at Teddy and saw that he wasn't really paying attention and he hadn't been since we were on the train. He had a far-off look in his eye. He was quite adorable, really. His constant smiling and the slight bounce in his step made me feel drawn to him in a way that I never have been before.

Though it annoyed me the way he acted with those two girls in our boat. They reminded me too much of the kids at my primary school. I know it won't be long until he goes off with the popular crowd and forget all about me, but I want to enjoy it while it lasts. Though I might lose him faster than I thought if the boat journey was anything to go by.

Despite the similar circumstances between us, we couldn't be more opposite and he seemed nothing like any of the other people I have met at the children's home or in school, but who knows? They all bullied me. The kids at the home did because I was a freak (I had _kind of_ smashed several windows once by magic, but luckily they didn't see that part, they saw me sitting in the kitchen crying and surrounded by broken glass), and the school kids did because I am an orphan that is shunned even by the others of _'my kind'_ that they picked on. In their opinion, I am the lowest of the low. Teddy was the first person I have met that had been truly kind to me.

To be honest, when he had first opened the door to my compartment in a such a violent manner, I thought that he was going to be like everyone else, but then he had flashed me that adorable lopsided grin and bounced over to sit opposite me. I had been wary at first, but he was just so cheerful that it was contagious. He really needed to practice his winking though, it looked like he was constipated or something.

I smiled faintly at the memory as I walked into the Entrance Hall and looked around in awe. There were flaming torches lighting the stone walls and the ceiling was so impressively high that it was almost too difficult to see any sort of detail. We followed Professor Constantin across the flag stoned floor and into a small chamber next to huge wooden double doors with large amounts of noise coming through. The rest of the school must be in there waiting.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said the professor. "My name is Professor Constantin. I teach transfiguration, I am the head of Hufflepuff house and I am also the Deputy Headmaster." He looked around the students and they all looked at him with respect in their eyes. A small smile crossed his face briefly that it seemed to be missed by most people except me.

"The feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. Your house will be like your family while you are here so the sorting is a very important ceremony. You will be placed where like-minded people to you are. You must do your best during the sorting to keep an open mind and be true to yourself if there is any hope of sorting you correctly."

He was being very cryptic about the whole ceremony and most people looked terrified of the prospect of what they might face. They looked like they thought they were going to be battling a troll. Constantin had a slight twinkle in his eye which immediately put me at ease. I had seen that twinkle before, it happened whenever he was joking.

"The four houses are Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own history and have produced great wizards and witches: Heroes, pranksters, villains, celebrities and the few people that change the world. While you are here, any rule-breaking and you will lose house points while good behaviour and good deeds will earn you house points. The house with the most points at the end of the year will win the house cup.

"The sorting ceremony will be in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you smarten yourselves up and mentally prepare yourselves while you are waiting. I'll be back when we are ready for you. Good luck." He left the chamber and I saw Teddy gulp. Hard.

"Hey Leah, you don't happen to know how we are sorted do you? Everyone refused to tell me what happens." His voice was trembling slightly and I felt pity for him and wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm afraid I don't, but I'm sure that it's not as bad as you think. I saw the twinkle in Professor Constantin's eyes. He looked like he was laughing on the inside. He's just trying to mess with us," I reassured him and felt him relax.

I heard sniggering coming from behind me and turned to see a surprisingly muscular boy with black hair and dark brown eyes that looked almost black. He had rather large round ears that stuck out ever so slightly. "Well, if it isn't Teddy Lupin crying on the shoulder of his girlfriend!" he exclaimed in fake shock, his hand held over his heart. I blushed slightly at the mention of being Teddy's girlfriend, while Teddy pulled away from me so suddenly that I almost fell backwards.

"I wasn't crying. It was a hug. It's what mates do! But of course you wouldn't know that," Teddy said with a slight sneer. I noticed that he hadn't corrected him on the girlfriend assumption and I felt a little concerned. Does he like me as more than a friend? Impossible. We only met a few hours ago. I shook myself out of my thoughts.

"No, it's what girls do or gays. Men do not hug," the boy spat out with his arms folded across his chest. All the first years were standing around pretending not to notice what was going on, but were secretly listening in. It had gone silent.

"Oi, don't be so sexist. You were obviously not brought up in a loving home if you've never hugged anyone," Teddy replied looking mildly angry. I winced at his words. I hadn't hugged anyone until today. He must have noticed as he looked at me apologetically.

At that moment, Professor Constantin returned. "Everyone form a line and follow me." I followed nervously behind Teddy out of the chamber and through the large double doors and into the Great Hall.

Thousands of candles were littered about the hall floating above four long tables. The tables were laid with golden plates and goblets. The students were sat down at the tables and had gone silent and were watching the procession of first years trailing behind the deputy head. We were led up to the front of the hall in front of another long table that the staff were sitting at.

Professor Constantin placed a small wooden stool in front of us and placed an old torn hat that was fraying at the edges and looked extremely dusty on it. All sorts of ideas were running through my head about what we would have to do. I wondered whether the test would be to figure out what to do with the hat. I figured I would just try it on. Sometimes the answer is the obvious one.

To my great surprise, the hat started singing at the top of its – well I guess it doesn't have lungs – whilst doing the ruddy cancan. Yes, I'm being serious, but don't ask me how considering it doesn't have any legs. All I could think was that whoever made this hat must have had some serious issues.

It seemed like this wasn't a surprise to everyone else in the hall though. The hat sang about the different houses and the war and house unity and not judging people based on their relatives. I could only think that this hat was completely off its rocker. I wondered if it was actually possible for it to be insane considering it didn't have a brain. Did it?

It finally settled down and the hall broke out into applause and cheers. The hat bowed to everyone, milking it for all it was worth. The poor hat must get terribly lonely if it is only used once a year. I smiled to myself. I was right about trying on the hat.

Professor Constantin stepped forward with a roll of parchment and started calling out names and I felt my nerves kick in.

"Ryan Addams." A round faced blonde boy with a big nose stepped forward and sat down, placing the hat on his head. A few seconds passed.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat screamed. Ryan removed the hat from his head and went to sit at the table on the far left that were clapping loudly.

"Matthew Barret."

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted again after less time than it did for Ryan. He went and sat down next to him.

"Ignatius Burke." I thought that was a rather odd name, but maybe that was normal for the magical community. He was probably a pureblood. Teddy had mentioned a few of the Death Eater names that sounded really odd. Maybe that was why they became evil, they were ashamed of having such a name.

"RAVENCLAW!" The boy went to sit at the table next to the Gryffindors.

"Timothy Buttons."

The short brown haired boy with an upturned nose from the train stepped forwards and just as he was placing the hat on his head, it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" That was quick. The boy got up and almost skipped to the Gryffindor table.

"Elga Cornfoot." The girl that Teddy was staring at in the boat walked forwards and tried on the hat. The hat took his time on this one.

"GRYFFINDOR!" There really seems to be an awful lot of Gryffindors. I wonder what they would do if nearly everyone ended up in one house.

"Alice Daley."

"HUFFLEPUFF!" There was finally someone who wasn't in Gryffindor apart from the boy with the odd name who went to Ravenclaw.

Mina Emery went to Gryffindor, again.

"Dante Harper." The boy that was being mean to Teddy just before the sorting swaggered up to the stool and placed the hat on his head. A few moments passed.

"SLYTHERIN!" It appears that Teddy was right. Only bad people go to Slytherin. I hoped that I wouldn't end up there, Teddy would never want to be friends with me then and I didn't fancy having to make friends with Harper after he was being such a git. Harper had a big smirk on his face as he went to sit at the table on the far right of the hall.

Toby Harris went to Ravenclaw and Karsten Hart went to join Harper at the Slytherin table. I knew my name must be coming up soon. Robert Helmer was called and went to Ravenclaw.

"Leah Higgins." I swallowed and walked to the stool feeling my cheeks heat up as the rest of the school watched me. Teddy shot me a reassuring smile as the hat was placed on my head and everything went dark.

 _"Ah, another muggle-born,"_ a voice in my head sounded. _"It's quite refreshing to see so many these days especially after the war."_

Oh great. I get to have a conversation with a hat. Magic is truly mad.

 _"Now now, don't be sarcastic with me."_ The hat sounded quite cheerful, but I wished it would just get on with it. The hat chuckled. _"Impatient I see. Hmm, but a very quick mind. Oh yes there's lots of intelligence here, quite wise too considering your age."_

 _"Erm, thanks?"_

 _"Questions, so many questions whizzing around this head of yours. Very curious, but also logical. Ravenclaw is certainly looking like the answer here."_

 _"Okay, then why aren't you putting me there?"_ I asked a little impatiently.

 _"I must explore all areas of your mind. If I only scanned the surface then how would I know what you really think deep down? Those tend to be the real indicators of who you are."_ I nodded slightly. The hat was actually making some sort of sense.

 _"There is courage here and loyalty to those who are loyal to you also. Slightly impulsive, your emotions can sometimes get the better of you. Hmm, you have a lot of pride too, perhaps a little too much. You hate losing. Gryffindor could be an option for you too._

 _"Hufflepuff is out of the question I think. Not very sociable or generous or kind or friendly or open..."_

 _"Are you done listing all my faults? I am aware of them you know!"_ I exclaimed feeling very low on self-esteem.

 _"...and far too lazy. You are loyal, but only to those who prove their loyalty to you first. You can be quite cunning and won't let anything get in the way of you achieving your goals. Slightly selfish, I see. Oh ho, very interesting, there's some mischief buried in there somewhere too. Slytherin perhaps? Yes, they will help to bring this side out of you."_ Alarm shot through me.

 _"But...Teddy said only bad people go to Slytherin! They were all Death Eaters!"_

 _"Fool! Slytherin is as noble a house as any of the others!"_ The sorting hat huffed. _"Yes, a select few made some mistakes, but that is in the past and we must remember to move past these prejudices. Besides, Teddy's own grandmother was in Slytherin. Maybe Ravenclaw isn't for you if you are so close minded. Hmm…tricky."_

Odd, Teddy hadn't mentioned that. She had sounded quite nice too in the stories he told, he obviously loves her. _"It's not my fault! I haven't been here that long, so I have no choice but to believe what other people tell me until I get a proper chance to research it."_

 _"Very good. Hmm, Slytherin or Ravenclaw? Very tricky indeed. Which house do you think?"_

 _"You're asking my opinion?"_ I asked in disbelief. _"_ You're _the Sorting Hat!"_

 _"Yes, but you are particularly difficult to place. Most students like this have an idea of where to go so I put them there, but you...I have no idea which you prefer. I would have thought Ravenclaw, but now you are thinking about Slytherin too."_

 _"Well I realised I was too quick to judge,"_ I replied. Where _do_ I want to go? Perhaps I should be in Slytherin. Maybe I could then prove to people that Slytherins aren't bad and they aren't pureblood bigots, considering I'm muggleborn. It would stop people like me who are quick to judge based on the prejudices that everyone else spreads.

 _"That sounds like a good goal, but you are thinking like a Ravenclaw. This was a test to see how you think so with that, you are now in-"_

"Wait!" I shouted out loud before realising that the whole hall could hear me and I blushed. _"You haven't let me fully think through my options yet! Now who's quick to judge?"_

 _"Quite right, sorry. You may continue,"_ The hat spoke in an amused voice as if it were indulging a small child. Ugh. Anyway, Slytherin could work, but in Ravenclaw I won't have to put up with the prejudice. People will trust my findings more if I'm in Ravenclaw as opposed to Slytherin. No matter how nice I try to prove I am people would be looking for my ulterior motive and would never fully trust me, thinking that I am just another sneaky Slytherin.

 _"And that is Slytherin thinking, interesting."_

 _"Why does it have to be Ravenclaw thinking or Slytherin thinking? Why can't it just be thinking?"_

The hat chuckled. _"You are an interesting one aren't you? That was Hufflepuff thinking."_

 _"You said I wouldn't make a good Hufflepuff! Stop categorising the way I think!"_

 _"And I stand by that statement, but it doesn't mean that you don't have any traits of a Hufflepuff. We all have traits of each of the houses, but in different amounts and it is up to us which ones we value most._

 _"Despite what you may think, my job isn't to categorise the students, it is to put them with people who value the same things. They are the people you will get along with best while at Hogwarts so that is where I put you. So now the question is, what do you value most? Imagination, creativity, intelligence, wisdom and originality or cunning, ambition, resourcefulness, determination and independence."_

That is a good question. Listening to the Slytherin traits makes me wonder how someone like Harper fits in with that.

 _"You may not like the boy, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't possess the qualities of a Slytherin."_

 _"So what does he have? I can't imagine him being cunning or resourceful, but if his_ ambition _is to piss off other people then he probably has the_ determination _to achieve that_ independently _,"_ I replied snidely.

 _"I can't discuss other students. Please get back on topic. Which traits do you value?"_

Oh yeah. _"I value the traits of both, but I think Ravenclaw will more likely accept me. Not just because I'm muggleborn, but I know I can be a little strange sometimes and Ravenclaw sounds like the place for people that don't usually fit in,"_ I said thinking about how everyone my age who has treated me except for Teddy.

 _"You know, the time spent sorting you is one of the longest I've ever had to. Well then, it better be_...RAVENCLAW!"

I smiled as the hat was taken off my head and I went over to join my new cheering housemates. Teddy shot me a knowing grin. I wondered if he had guessed where I would end up. The sorting continued.

Megan Kiernan was sorted into Hufflepuff.

"Aaron King." A very cute boy with soft-looking honey-blonde hair, styled to look slightly windswept, and deep blue eyes confidently walked up to the stool. He looked similar to the blonde boy on the train, but so much better. There was a way in which he walked that he looked almost regal as he glided across the floor and I couldn't help but stare.

I blushed when one of the older kids noticed me staring and gave me a knowing wink. I blushed more deeply and tried to distract myself by looking anywhere but at him. I turned my gaze to the ceiling and was mesmerised with the stars staring down at me. I felt the need to find out just how they did that. It was a beautiful piece of magic.

I turned my attention back to the sorting and realised that I had missed which house the boy had ended up in. I had missed a couple of others and found that there was a girl sitting next to me. I was about to introduce myself when I heard Professor Constantin call out Teddy Lupin.

The hall went quiet. I was confused as to why no one seemed to be talking except for in hushed whispers, until I remembered that two boys had gone looking for him on the train and one particular comment he had made. _'Don't you recognise me from the papers?'_ Oh. He's famous. Very famous. I wondered why. I knew his godfather was the saviour of the wizarding world, so maybe he's famous by association. Or maybe it's his meteorfagus thing, or whatever he had said. He had said you had to be born like that, so it was probably quite rare.

Teddy walked forward amidst the whisperings of the Great Hall and everyone craning their necks to get a good look at him.

The hat was placed on his head and he waited for it to choose where he was going to go. He was surprised when the hat let out what must have been a chuckle. He looked around, trying to figure out where it came from.

 _"I am inside your head you know."_

 _"Well get out of it! My thoughts are private!"_

 _"Well then how would I be able to do my job? Don't worry, I never reveal anything I see in students' minds."_

 _"You're still a creepy stalker,"_ he retorted.

The hat chuckled at this. _"Well, whatever you think of me you must put up with me for a few moments."_

 _"Can you put me in Ravenclaw? My friend was put there and she's not very good at making new friends."_

 _"Loyalty to your friends, ey? Yes, you are selfless, very much so. Courage too, you would put your friends' and family's lives before your own. That takes a certain type of courage. Hm, you are very much like your parents. Gryffindor or Hufflepuff then?"_

 _"But, what about Ravenclaw? Surely you can find something that will allow you to put me there,"_ he pleaded. He didn't want to leave Leah on her own.

 _"I admire your need to be with your friends, which is a Hufflepuff quality. You are smart yes, but you lack the imagination and curiosity of Ravenclaw students. You are hardworking, but that again, is Hufflepuff. Compassionate, kind, forgiving, just like your father, but I think it was your father's condition that made me put him in Gryffindor. Oh, and a prankster too!"_

He grinned at this. Maybe the hat could tell him more about his parents?

 _"I am afraid I cannot reveal much as I said at the start, but I can tell you that you share most of the qualities your parents possessed. Yes, I know just where to put you_...HUFFLEPUFF!"

He smiled brightly and bounced over to the Hufflepuff table that was screaming madly. He turned his hair bright yellow in honour of his new house and looked for Leah to see if she was ok. She had a smile on her face and gave him a thumbs up. He sighed in relief and grinned back at her. He sat next to a boy who was sorted just before him called Aldrich Lowe. He was quite short with shaggy mousy brown hair and round face.

"Hey, Teddy," the boy beamed at him. "Isn't this cool? I love Hogwarts! My parents wouldn't tell me anything about it though," he complained. "They said it was family tradition that everything had to be a surprise. I got desperate man! I tried to read 'Hogwarts, a History' for crying out loud!" he groaned and Teddy chuckled fondly.

He remembered Aunt Hermione trying to force him to read it before he left. "I take it you didn't get very far then?" he said amused.

"No, it was _so_ dull! I don't know how anyone can read that thing!"

"I feel you mate."

The sorting was finally nearing the end with Zoe Wainwright being sorted into Hufflepuff. Teddy looked at his new classmates. It looked like he only had three roommates. Tom Strange, Solomon Shaw and Aldrich. There were only three girls.

He had noticed earlier that his year group seemed to be quite a small one, but he supposed that was because they were all born during a war and not many people wanted children while that was going on.

Professor Constantin rolled up the parchment and took the sorting hat away.

Professor McGonagall rose to her feet with a small smile on her face as she looked over at Teddy, but that soon faded away into her usual stern expression as she gazed around at the students. She commanded complete respect and silence descended the hall.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. I will save my speech to the end as I know you must all be starving. So, let the feast begin." She sat down and the golden plates in the centre of the table filled with food and Teddy grinned widely.

Harry had told him about the huge amounts of food that seemed to appear from thin air, but nothing quite prepared him for the vast variety of food with just about every type of meat, fish, vegetable and potato laid before him.

He quickly dug in and piled his plate high. He began to eat the delicious food, when a ghost popped out from the middle of the table, making him jump and causing the food on his fork to fall off.

"Hello there!" The ghost greeted them jovially. "Welcome to Hufflepuff, the best house by far! I'm the Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff house ghost here to help all you young people with any problems. Just call for me and I'll be there." He beamed at all the first years. A couple of them were still gaping in shock and Teddy assumed them to be muggleborns.

"Thank you very much sir!" the boy, Tom Strange, said after getting over his initial shock.

"No problem my boy! Anything for a fellow Hufflepuff. Now, I must be going. Peeves will be causing trouble somewhere." The ghost drifted away and through the wall to the left.

"Who is Peeves?" Solomon asked. He had messy mop of longish blonde hair on top of his head.

"Oh, he's the poltergeist. You better watch out for him, he likes to make all of our lives hell," he replied and Solomon's face paled.

They resumed eating until they were completely stuffed and the plates disappeared. McGonagall got to her feet and the hall fell silent as everyone turned towards her.

"Just a few start of term notices for you. Please note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students." She looked pointedly at a few students, including Teddy. Was she expecting him to break the rules already? Maybe Harry had mentioned something to her. He knew that they still kept in touch, which was a bit unnerving for him. Having your guardian and Headmistress in close contact with each other was a bad omen.

"Anyone found wandering around down there will be punished. I must also remind you that no magic should take place in corridors. Mr Filch, the caretaker, has a list on the door of his office listing all the banned joke items if anyone is interested enough to look. You can assume that all Zonko's and Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products are on there.

"Quidditch trials will be within the next couple of weeks. Anyone interested should talk to their house captains. Now, off to bed. First years please follow your prefects."

He got up and they followed one of the prefects. She was a bubbly fifth year with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and glasses. She led them into the Entrance Hall, but instead of going up the marble staircase, she took them through a door to the left of it.

"Hiya firsties!" She said with a clap of her hands. "My name is Hayley Shacklebolt and no, I'm not the Minister of Magic's long lost daughter. I'm actually his third cousin twice removed. I'll leave you to figure out what that means.

"I am your fifth year prefect and your _only_ fifth year prefect. There are only two boys in fifth year and Professor McGonagall couldn't trust either of them as far as she could throw Hagrid! I'd watch out for those two if I were you," she said all of this rather fast and Teddy found it hard to keep up.

She then turned and bounded down the brightly lit corridor full of colourful paintings with most depicting food. He realised this must be the corridor that led to the kitchens. Sure enough, he came across a rather large painting with a large silver fruit bowl with the infamous pear that you must tickle in order for the door handle to appear.

They continued down the long corridor, past a suit of armour until they reached a pile of barrels stacked up against the wall on the right. Hayley stopped them by raising her hand and turned to face them.

"Now, listen carefully. I will only say this once and you must remember everything I say or you may find yourselves in a rather... _sticky_ situation." She winked at the word 'sticky' and Teddy wondered what she meant.

"You must tap the barrel two from the bottom, second one down, in the middle of the second row, not the third and not one to the left, the middle, in the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff. Remember that or you will find yourself stuck out here for the night covered in vinegar. Now, who would like to try it?"

She looked at them all beaming, but when no one stepped forward her face fell. Teddy wasn't surprised. It seemed that no one could work out just which barrel she was referring to and they were all too afraid of getting doused in vinegar in front of their classmates.

He realised that the prefect was new and she was on her own. So, not wanting to dishearten the new prefect, he stepped forward bravely. She smiled widely at him and nodded encouragingly. He took the best guess of the barrel and tapped the rhythm. To his great relief, it was the right one and the lid swung open.

"Excellent! Now, if you will all follow me inside." She bent over and crawled through the entrance that had just appeared, which was larger than it looked and the others followed her through. They found themselves in a cosy round common room with a low ceiling.

There were lots of yellow hangings, burnished copper, and overstuffed sofas and armchairs upholstered in yellow and black and circular windows that let the light from the moon travel through. At one end, there was a large honey coloured mantlepiece with exquisite carvings of badgers. Above this, was a portrait of a woman that he assumed must be Helga Hufflepuff.

Hayley directed the girls through one round door to their dormitories and the boys through another. They went down the corridor until they reached a circular door with a golden number one nailed into it. Aldrich opened the door and they were faced with four four-poster beds with patchwork quilts. They were so tired that they just found their trunks, got changed into their pyjamas and fell into bed. Teddy drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


	3. The Flying Lesson

I woke up early the next morning, feeling a bit chilly. I had noticed last night that it was quite draughty in the Ravenclaw tower. I look over at my clock and see that it's only 6am. I decide that there wouldn't be much point in going back to sleep so I get up and go into the bathroom, being careful not to disturb my still sleeping dorm mates.

By the time I'm dressed, my dorm mates are stirring. Not wanting to have the awkwardness of trying to speak to them, I leave the dormitory and go down the spiral staircase into the common room.

It has graceful arched windows, and the walls are hung with blue and bronze silks. The domed ceiling is painted with stars, which are mirrored in the midnight-blue carpet. Tables, chairs, and bookcases cover the expanse of the floor, and a white-marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw sits next to the door that I had just walked out of.

I walk over to the exit and down the tight spiral staircase. I tried walking the way we had walked the previous night, but where there should have been a door, there wasn't. I put this down to how tired I had been last night so obviously didn't pay as much attention as I should have.

I began to panic until I saw one of the 5th year prefects who helpfully led me to the Great Hall. He told me that the door only appears on Tuesdays and apologised for using that route last night, even though it is quicker. He also told me to talk to the portraits and to never ask Peeves, whoever that was. Apparently, he will send you to trick doors and staircases riddled with trick steps.

I was baffled by this and worried how I was ever going to get used to this place. I have to get a map. There must be one in the Library. The only problem is that I don't have a bloody clue how to find it. Excuse the language, you pick up a lot in a children's home living with kids a lot older.

When we arrived at the Great Hall, I was about to head over to the Ravenclaw table when I caught sight of a mop of artificial looking yellow curly hair. The hall is virtually empty, but I wasn't sure if I was allowed to sit at another house table. I decide to risk it.

I make my way over to the boy currently wolfing his food down like he is worried he's going to starve if he doesn't eat it fast enough. "Lupin!" I call out, attracting the attention of the students and staff already at their tables. My face turns a little pink as I realised what I had done.

Teddy looked up in surprise before smirking at me. "Higgins!" he shouted back and I let out a small giggle and sat next to him. I was a bit surprised at myself, I never giggle. Ever. I blame Teddy for his bad influence.

Teddy smiled. "Hey Hatstall, eat your food before someone takes it! Quick!" he commanded. I look down the table and see plates and plates of piled up food. I shoot him an odd look.

"Um, Teddy? How much are you expecting me to eat?" I ask as if talking to a small child. I began to wonder if something was wrong with this boy. Had he been dropped on his head as a baby one too many times?

He just rolled his eyes at me as if I was the mental one before turning back to his mountain of food he had created on his plate. Hang on, what was that he called me? Hatstall?

"Teddy, what's a hatstall?"

"It's you of course! Anyone who spends more than five minutes talking to the sorting hat is a hatstall. I timed and you spent six and half minutes under there! Beck owes me a sickle."

"Beck?"

"You know, the blonde girl that was on the boat with us?" Oh, that girl. I can't remember where she was sorted. It was probably while I was staring at the ceiling trying to distract myself. I'm secretly hoping that it wasn't Hufflepuff.

"So, why does she owe you a sickle?"

"I bet her a sickle that you would be a hatstall and she said no way because there hasn't been a hatstall since Peter Pettigrew."

"Who's Peter Pettigrew? And how do you know he was a hatstall? And why would you bet a whole sickle on me being a hatstall if it was so unlikely?"

He chuckled and put down his cutlery. "How many questions?" he smirked at me. "Peter Pettigrew was one of my father's best friends. I know he was a hatstall because there is an unofficial record kept on one of the walls in the entrance hall hidden behind a portrait. I knew you would be a hatstall for several reasons. One, you ask so many questions; two, you're often staring into space for a long time in deep thought and three, I can imagine you arguing with the hat on which house to put you in. In fact, I know you were arguing because you shouted for it to wait," he reminded me. I groan. I can't believe I did that. Stupid hat making rash decisions.

Teddy laughed. Did I say that out loud? "Stop your grumbling Leah and eat up!"

We sit in comfortable silence eating our breakfast. I don't fully understand why I'm so comfortable around him. I have never been this comfortable around anyone and we only met yesterday!

By now, the rest of the hall had filled up and Teddy was on his second mountain of food. As if someone had flicked a switch, hundreds of owls start pouring into the Great Hall through the windows. All different colours and sizes. They circle the tables, dropping things onto the students. What the hell is going on?

Just then, a rather small owl nearly lands in my food. It's about the size of a pigeon with reddish-brown feathers and darker feathers surrounding its face. It appears to be holding an envelope.

"Hey there Blinky." Teddy's talking to the owl? He strokes its feathers and unties the envelope. I stare at him in bewilderment.

"Oh! Sorry Leah! I forgot you're still all new to this. We use owls to deliver our post," he explained. Is he serious? Are we living in the middle ages? Pigeon post? "They're really smart and know exactly where to go even if you don't know the exact location of the person you're sending the letter to. They're really hard to intercept too." I just nod at him. This place is strange.

He pulls out some pellet-like things from a pocket in his robes and feeds them to the bird. He opens the letter and began to read while I continue eating my sausages. Cooked breakfast! I hope it's like this every morning. These sausages are delicious. They're really juicy and have so much flavour.

"So, who is the letter from?" I ask him in-between bites.

"Oh, just from Harry and Ginny. Asking how I am and what house I'm in and stuff." He shrugged.

I finish eating and notice Professor Constantin walking down the table handing out pieces of parchment to the students. He hands one to Teddy and turns to look at me. "You better get back to your own table Miss Higgins. Professor Flitwick is handing out your timetables."

I shoot up and hurry over to the Ravenclaw table. I see my year mates talking avidly over one of their text books and I feel out of place. They're all getting on great and I'm alone. I regret going to eat with Teddy because now I've missed my chance to get to know the people I will be sharing classes with.

I sigh and walk up to my diminutive head of house who hands me my timetable. I quickly scan it and find that we have flying lessons first thing. This cheers me up immensely. I had read all about Quidditch in a book called Quidditch through the ages. I had seen it in a store in Diagon Alley and Professor Constantin had gifted it to me when he noticed my interest.

I race out of the hall, not waiting for my classmates and run to the nearest portrait. A wizard with a long black beard and a purple pointed hat smiles at me as I approach. He tells me how to get to the Quidditch pitch before starting to talk about his favourite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, and how good they had been in his day, but I quickly thank him and run in the direction he had indicated.

It's a clear sunny day. Perfect weather for flying, there isn't a single breeze in the air. There are eight broomsticks laid out in a line on the grass. I was the first one there.

It's not long before the rest of the class joins me and I notice the blonde boy who walked oddly, as if he was gliding, from yesterday who I had found myself staring at during the sorting. He was sorted into Ravenclaw? I feel a small grin spread across my face.

"What are you grinning at?" He sounds friendly, but I realise I must have been staring at him (again) as he sounded a bit unnerved at the same time.

I grin sheepishly. "Oh, I'm just excited about learning to fly," I say genuinely.

"Ah, so you're a muggleborn then?"

"Yeah...why?" I ask a little unsurely. I knew there used to be a lot of prejudice against muggleborns and Teddy told me that there were some people out there who still are.

"Just curious," he flashes me a devilish grin. He is so cute. "Quidditch has been in my family for centuries, so I already know how to fly, but I can't wait to join the team. I wish we didn't have to wait until next year." He lets out a long sigh.

There's something about him that sounded slightly arrogant, but at the same time he was just speaking his mind. I admire that about him. "What position do you play?" For some reason, I feel the need to impress him with whatever knowledge I already have.

"Beater," he replies with a smile. "There's something about whacking balls at people's heads that is incredibly satisfying," he grins cheekily. Somehow he managed to make that sound somewhat posh. He's probably been brought up by a rich pureblood family by the sounds of it. I grin back at him.

"Sorry, I don't believe I've formally introduced myself." He smiles apologetically and sticks out his hand. "I'm Aaron King."

I take his proffered hand, feeling slightly weird at such a formal greeting. "Leah Higgins," I smile shyly.

He raises my hand to his lips and kisses it and I blush scarlet. "Oh, I know who you are. I watched you at the sorting. You seemed to be having quite the conversation with the hat." He winks at me and I feel my heart beat slightly faster.

I fumble for a reply. He was watching me? Was it just me or did he remember everyone else too? I remember a thought that had popped into my head yesterday. "You don't happen to have a twin brother do you?" I question. He had looks remarkably similar to that boy on the train.

"No, why?"

Well, this isn't awkward. I fiddle with the hem of my sleeve, looking down at the ground. "Um, it's just that I saw someone being sorted yesterday that looked very much like you." There was silence for a couple of seconds so I dare to take a glance back up at his face.

Understanding dawns in his eyes. "Oh! You mean Tom Loxton? He's my cousin," he smiles at me.

"Oh." Damn, awkward silence. What to say? What to say? I try to think of something even remotely intelligent to say.

Luckily, at that moment, a woman, who I assumed to be our teacher, Madam Hooch, arrives. "What are you all doing standing around having a chat? This isn't afternoon tea! Well come on! Everyone stand by a broomstick! Hurry up!" she barks at us.

We quickly hurry to stand by a broom. Madam Hooch glares at us with her sharp yellow eyes. I find them very unnerving and wonder if they're natural. I look down at my broom and notice that it looks nothing like the brooms I had seen in Diagon Alley. The twigs that were once all neat and styled now all pointed out at odd angles. I see the faded golden writing on the handle reading Nimbus 2000.

"Stick out your dominant hand over the broom and shout 'up'," calls Madam Hooch from the front.

There are a multitude of shouts all at once. I saw that Aaron had his broom in his hand on his first go. I shout "up" in a shaky voice and it just rolls over on the ground. Aaron leans over to tell me that I had to mean it.

"You have to let the broom know that you're not afraid and tell it that you really want to use it. It's a bit like a horse I suppose." He smiles kindly at me.

"Oh, I suppose you ride horses too?" I grumble to myself, but apparently not quietly enough.

"Yes, my family is often in the muggle public eye. Riding horses is expected of someone of my 'calibre'," he says in a voice that sounded as if riding horses was the worst thing in the world.

"Hang on, I thought you were a pureblood?"

Before he could answer, we are interrupted by the shrill of a whistle. "You! What's your name?" I look up to find an accusing finger pointed in my direction by Madam Hooch.

"Leah." Madam Hooch continues to glare at me and I clear my throat nervously. "Leah Higgins," I struggled out in a trembling voice. I'm terrified.

"Well Higgins, while you were happily chatting away, the rest of your classmates have managed the task." I look out of the corner of my eye and see that she was correct and feel embarrassment and shame wash over me. "Ten points from Ravenclaw and five laps of the field!"

I'm frozen to the spot. Five whole laps? The field looks around 150 metres long and 25 metres wide. That was 350 metres per lap, so a total of 1750! That's more than I had ever run in my life.

"Well get on with it! Or I'll add more laps!" Hooch screams at me and I quickly set off at a steady pace feeling entirely humiliated with the whole class watching me. "Faster!" I speed up, not wanting to anger the already irate Quidditch coach.

I avoid the gaze of my house mates, not wanting to see the annoyance and disappointment in their eyes for losing them ten points already and it was only the first day! I focus my eyes on the ground in front of me and hope I wouldn't tire too soon.

I risk a glance at them and see them all hovering on their brooms. They all look as if they're going to start flying soon and I was missing out all because I couldn't keep quiet and do what I was told to do.

I catch Aaron's eye and immediately regret it. They swam with sympathy. It was his fault that I was being punished! I would be over there with the others if he hadn't started talking about bloody horses!

I'm on my third lap and starting to sweat. My muscles are burning and I feel like I'm going to collapse. These uniforms weren't made for exercise. My robes and tie are keeping me incredibly warm and I'm not wearing trainers so my feet are starting to ache.

When I finally complete the laps I can't help but collapse onto the nice soft grass and try to catch my breath. A shadow suddenly looms over me and I look up to see the short and spiky grey hair of my least favourite teacher. I know I don't know any of the others apart from Constantin, but surely they can't be worse than this!

She has her hands on her hips and sneers down at me. "Up! Get your broom and join the others in the air. If you fall, I won't be there to catch you," she adds before turning away and inspecting everyone else.

I get up and pick up the lonely broom. I squint to see how everyone else is holding their brooms and try to mimic them. Surely this was dangerous? No one had taught me how to fly!

"HIGGINS! Get your sorry self up here right now!"

Fumbling with my broom, I shakily kick off. My broom rises into the air, but I struggle to control it. I have no idea what to do. It's wobbling precariously to the left. I shut my eyes, trying not to think about the fact that I'm currently thirty feet off the ground.

"Watch yourself Higgins!" An angry cry comes from a rather round, curly haired red head. I vaguely remember him from the sorting to be Toby Harris. He had narrowly avoided me as my broom zooms around out of control.

I grip the handle of the broom so tight that my knuckles turn white. My hair whips about my face and I struggle to see, but I don't dare take my hands off the broom to fix it. Note to self: tie hair back next time. Just as full on panic was beginning to set in, I feel a tug on my broom and everything settles down.

I turn my head round and see Madam Hooch, on her own broom, gripping the back end of my broom and taking it to the ground. I keep my eyes trained on the ground when we get off, feeling very shame-faced. This was the one thing I had been really looking forward to and I'm hopeless at it.

"If you don't wish to get yourself killed, I suggest that you practice before the next lesson. I will get someone to supervise you," Hooch says curtly. She calls everyone down. "Please put your brooms in a pile over there," she gestures to an area of the ground by her feet. "Class dismissed."

I turn towards the path leading back to the castle, not wanting to talk to anyone. I have transfiguration next and don't want to be late. I certainly don't want to talk to that boy who had got me into so much trouble, so I ignore his shouts and pounding footsteps behind me.

"Leah! Leah Higgins! Oi!" His footsteps are getting nearer so I quicken my pace and as I round a corner, I collide with someone going the opposite way. His books fall to the floor and loose papers scatter themselves.

The boy looks up at me with fire in his black eyes. "Watch where you're going! You filthy mudblood!" I have found myself facing Dante Harper. I don't know what that word meant, but it was obviously an insult.

"Calm down Harper. I'm sorry alright?" I say calmly, hoping to defuse the situation.

"You better be sorry! Pick them up, mudblood." He commands.

"Do not listen to that vile creature, Leah." King had caught up with me. He spoke quietly and calmly, but there was a certain power behind his words. Despite the calmness in his demeanour, I can see the hardness in his usually warm blue eyes and I know that I never want to cross him.

Harper sneers at him. "You need your knight in shining armour to save you, mudblood?" he spits. Rude. I don't need saving. My so called 'knight in shining armour' is not wanted. I try to convey this in my eyes when I look over at said knight.

"Call her that again and you will regret it," King threatens. Of course he ignores me.

"And just what exactly are you going to do? Go crying to daddy? He may be high up in the muggle world, but he can't touch me here," he says pompously. Exactly who is his dad? I recognise the name King, but that's a rather common name.

"You would be surprised Harper. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to tell you my family secrets." Family secrets? Is he in the mafia? Or I suppose, whatever the Wizarding equivalent is.

"Not at liberty? Stop using your fancy pants posh words," he sneers.

"Do you have trouble understanding me? Should I 'dumb it down' for you?" Ooo, good one.

"That won't be necessary, my lord." He spits the respectful words making them sound like an insult. I watch this exchange, my head moving as if watching a tennis. I'm pleased to see that Aaron is standing up for me, though I'm not entirely sure why. Apparently, I'm calling him Aaron in my head again rather than King. Is he really a lord?

"Well then, we best be on our way otherwise we shall be late. Good day, Harper." And with that, he gives him a curt nod and places his arm around my waist and leads me away. I sneak a look back and see the fuming Harper mutter curses to himself as he picked up his books. A small smile graces my face.

"Thanks for that back there. You didn't have to stand up for me like that," I say staring down at my twiddling fingers.

He removes his arm from me. "Yes I did," he says quietly. "I can't stand it when anyone calls someone such a vile name." He catches my eye. "Especially when that someone is you." My breath catches in my throat as I get lost in his deep ocean eyes.

He suddenly looks away. "Well, we're here," he says awkwardly before entering the class room and finding a seat near the front. What just happened? Why me? I shake my thoughts from my head and go in to sit next to him.

The lesson passes quickly. The only notable moment was at the start, when Professor Constantin transfigured his chair into a baby elephant and it trampled over his foot. We had been transfiguring matches into needles and by the end of class, everyone had managed it. I'm pleased to note that I had been the first. At least there's something I'm good at.

Throughout the lesson, I had found myself stealing quick glances at the cute boy sitting next to me. I'm curious about him. He holds himself with an air of power and grace and the way he speaks is hypnotic. He has a soft voice that seems to carry across a large room. It was gentle, but deadly. He seems very mature, but he certainly has a cheeky side to him.

He seems perfect, almost too perfect. Harper had gotten one thing right, he certainly does seem like a knight in shining armour, straight from the round table of Arthurian legend.

~**~**~**~

It's lunch time, but despite the massive amounts of food on the table, Teddy felt rather glum. He'd been really looking forward to his first day, but he'd found himself having to endure two straight hours of History of Magic. Professor Binns had left him wanting to fall asleep and to never wake up again. You would have thought that no one could make learning about the founders (four of the greatest wizards ever!) so dull. He had tried so hard to listen and take notes, but he had failed. Surely, he didn't stand a chance of ever passing his classes if he couldn't even stay awake. He felt as though he would never live up to his parents' name. They would be so disappointed in him.

He felt the bench shift as someone landed next to him. He looked up at the girl. "How come you're sitting over here again?"

She let out a sigh. "I'm not very popular with my housemates right now." Teddy wore a confused look on his face, but she didn't seem to want to share. So, he's not the only one who had a bad day.

"Hogwarts isn't as great as you thought it would be, is it?"

She shook her head and blinked her eyes a few time fast, looking down at the table. Teddy frowned slightly. "I was so excited to find out I had magic, and that I would get to learn how to use it at a special school. I'd finally stand out for good reasons. I was special." The words tumbled out of her mouth and Teddy did his best to look supportive of his new friend. "But then I get here and it sinks in that everyone else here is special like me, so I'm no longer special. And then I lose a load of points for my house and the teacher completely embarrasses me in front of everyone. Now this guy won't leave me alone."

"Harper?"

"What? Oh, well kinda, but that's not who I was talking about. Aaron King. He's a guy in my house. He got me in to trouble with Madam Hooch by talking to me and then he chased after me when I wanted to be left alone and tried to protect me against Harper. I can handle him myself! Then he just completely ignored me in Transfiguration! I just don't understand him!" she shouted and let out a small sob.

Unsure of what to do with all this emotion, Teddy got up and held out a hand. "Come with me. I want to show you something that might cheer you up a bit. I've known I was a wizard all my life, but even I know how cool magic can be and this will prove it."

She smiled a little and took his hand. He pulled her up off the bench and led her towards the Hufflepuff common room.

"Where are we going?"

"My dorm."

She looked aghast. "I can't go in there! I'm a girl! And I'm not a Hufflepuff!"

He smirked a little at her. "Don't worry, I trust you not to reveal any secrets," he winked. "Besides, you need to get used to a little rule breaking if you're going to hang around with me."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Trouble-maker are you?"

"Maybe," he drew out the word and tapped the side of his nose.

She finally seemed to cheer up a little and laughed. They arrived at the barrels at the entrance to the common room and Teddy showed her how to get in.

On the way to his dorm, Leah received several glares and curious glances. Teddy knew that he would have to answer a lot of questions later, but for now just decided to comfort Leah by squeezing her hand slightly. She looked at him and smiled that brilliant smile he had seen on the train yesterday. He felt a warm feeling in his chest that crept up to his cheeks, causing them to redden. He looked away quickly, hoping that she didn't see.

They had reached the dorm and he led her towards the bed on the left furthest from the door. He began rummaging through his trunk, searching for one of his most treasured belongings that used to belong to his dad. Upon finding it, he let out a small whoop and showed it to Leah, who now sitting on his bed was staring at him bemusedly.

"You dragged me all the way from my delicious lunch to show me a blank piece of parchment?"

Just as he was about to protest, he paused and thought about what she said. "Close," he said slowly.

"So what is it that I'm missing?" she asked.

He smirked and pulled out his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he stated and tapped his wand on the parchment. He watched as her eyes went wide as she read the words that appeared.

"Oh my God! This shows where everyone is in Hogwarts! Where did you get it? I was going to look for a map in the library, but I want one of these!"

"It's a one of a kind I'm afraid. It was made by my dad and his friends when they were at school. One of them is Harry's dad. Harry's the one who gave me the map. He told me to only tell my most trusted friends about it," he looked her right in the eye and said, "You're the only one I've told."

Her eyes took on a suspicious shine. "This is amazing, Teddy!" she exclaimed. "You're amazing," she added almost inaudibly, but he still caught it and the warm feeling returned to his chest.

"Maybe we should try making a new one. We can base it on this one and then improve little bits. There might even be passageways that not even the Marauders could find!"

She beamed at him. "I'd love that. It might take a few years though, I know next to nothing about magic."

"We'll work on it together. It can be our secret project," he declared.

If it was possible, her smile got even wider and the feeling in his chest started feeling more like a burn. It was almost painful. He stood up and tackled her on to the bed, crushing her in his arms.

"Teddy!" she squealed. "Can't breathe!" she panted out.

He rolled off next to her and laughed heartily. His eyes turned a bright blue that sparkled in the light. She shoved him off the bed and let out a small giggle at his disgruntled look. "I hug a girl and this is how I get repaid," he grumbled to himself. This only made Leah laugh even harder.

He dropped his act and smiled softly up at her. 'Mission accomplished,' he thought.


	4. Conversations

It had been a few weeks since I first started Hogwarts. I was only just beginning to find my way around, but it would be helpful if they hadn't decided that the staircases and even the classrooms should move! The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was the only one that hadn't settled down yet. It jumped from one side of the castle to the other on an almost daily basis.

I'd managed to have a run in with Peeves. It turns out that he's a poltergeist that has haunted Hogwarts since its founding. I had stupidly ignored the warning of the prefect and asked him for the way to the astronomy tower. I ended up on a trick staircase that splattered me with ink.

There is more to magic than I first thought. I thought it would all be waving our wands about saying odd words and things would happen. I suppose that pretty much sums up Charms though. I hadn't been expecting to learn things like Astronomy or History of Magic, although that turned out to be a complete waste of time because no matter how hard anyone tried, most of us just fell asleep or zoned out. Why would anyone let a ghost teach?

Herbology had been interesting though. I never thought that there could be magical plants that move and change colour and, according to Professor Sprout, have personalities. She even insisted that some plants evolve into new species depending on the way you treat them!

Defence Against the Dark Arts was fun. Professor Lockwood looked to be in her early twenties and was obsessed with duelling. She taught us dodging and basic jinxes such as the knockback jinx. Our class is shared with the Slytherins and I enjoyed sending that particular jinx towards a certain pureblood bigot. Harper.

But out of all my lessons so far, Potions was my favourite. It was one of two lessons we had with the Hufflepuffs, the other is charms, so I got to work with Teddy. I was surprisingly good at it and I actually understood some of the theory behind it, which I was struggling with in other subjects.

Professor Zabini seemed like quite an aloof man. He looked down upon his students as if he didn't like any of them. Oh well, at least he doesn't do favouritism. While he wasn't very friendly, he certainly knew his stuff and was actually quite a good teacher.

During our first lesson, we were making a cure for boils. He gave us clear instructions and wandered round the classroom helping students and saving them from adding the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire. It was surprising how many students nearly did that. Apparently it has disastrous effects and causes everything it touches to melt.

At the end of the lesson, our potion had soft pink fumes rising from the cauldron. The professor even criticised us less than everyone else! I'd noticed that Aaron appeared to be struggling. He and his partner, Abella Little, who was a girl in my dorm, kept calling Zabini over to help them. So he's not amazing at everything then. Thank God!

Madam Hooch had kept her word and gotten someone to supervise me to fly. She was a 3rd year Gryffindor who played seeker for the house team. She also happened to be Aaron's sister. Her name was Emma and she seemed rather nice. A little more down to Earth than Aaron was, so she was good to have a laugh with. It had been awkward at first. I had been completely embarrassed at being so behind all my other classmates that I needed a tutor after just the first lesson.

Our first session had been the day after our lesson and she had taken me on to the pitch and shown me the correct grip. We went quite slowly, mainly because I was so nervous that I would crash the broom, but at the end the hour I was able to lift off from the ground and fly a few metres up into the air and do some basic turns.

"Well done Leah," she smiled at me. "We can have another session on Sunday and then I'm sure you will be at the same standard as the rest of your class."

I smiled back at her. "You know your brother is in most of my classes? He said something about being high up in the muggle world and I was wondering, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly did he mean?" It had been bugging me all day.

"Our father is the Earl of Kingston. If this were a formal meeting, you would have to refer to me as Lady Emma King. Luckily for you, I hate formalities." An earl? And a pureblood? He must be loaded. He probably has a castle and everything!

"Um Leah, are you okay?" She was looking at me oddly and I realised I probably looked like I was miles away.

"Sorry, yeah I'm fine."

Since then we had had the second session and Emma was right that I was finally ready to re-join my classmates on Wednesday's lesson. It was like after I had gotten over the first hurdle, everything seemed to come naturally. I suppose it's similar to learning to ride a bike. No one can just get on a bike and know how to ride it, but once they learn how to keep their balance they're fine.

Today will be our eighth lesson and we will finally start learning to play Quidditch! We've already done basic flying manoeuvres, the rules of Quidditch and some drills to help us get used to the balls.

We were all currently lined up with our brooms in hand. The sky is overcast and looks like it might start to rain, but hopefully it will hold off. Madam Hooch was pacing up and down the line shouting instructions.

"Higgins, King, Little and Harris! You will be on one team." I groaned internally. Abella Little and Toby Harris were probably the worst fliers in Ravenclaw. I bet Hooch did that just because she hates me. "Shaw, Middleton, Helmer and Burke! You will be on the other team. There will be three Chasers and a Keeper on each team and you will swap so that you all have a go at being Keeper. Understood?" she demanded and we all quickly nodded our heads and split into our two teams.

"I'll be Keeper first," announced the rather round boy. Huh, at least his size will block most of the shots. I know that's a bit harsh, but he's been big headed since the first day. He constantly boasted about how much better he was at every subject and if you try to mention how bad he is at flying then he just replies with 'well that's not a real subject is it?'

We had four ten minute games with all of us swapping round. We only won one game, when I was Keeper surprisingly enough. Both Toby and Abella had been useless, though Abella did manage to score a few more hoops than Toby. Aaron had been a great Chaser and I managed to save quite a few shots. I was much better at defence than offence whenever we played Football at the home and it looks like those skills transfer over to Quidditch.

"Right you lot! Next week we will add in the Beaters and see just how good you are then! I want a functioning team by Halloween because all first years are required to take part in a small Quidditch tournament. Class dismissed!" Madam Hooch bellowed at the end of our lesson.

We put away the equipment and headed back towards the castle. "Can you believe that? They've never had a first year tournament before! Bagsy Chaser!" Robert Helmer seemed to bound up the path excitedly.

"Guys we can't just do bagsy, that's Gryffindor thinking. We have to be smart about this," Toby Harris said condescendingly. Such great words of wisdom. Of course, he didn't give any suggestions. He's all talk, no brains.

"We need to find out who is the best at each position," Aaron added.

"Do we need to find the best player for the position or the best position for the player?" I put in, stroking my imaginary beard. What? I thought it sounded wise.

"That's actually a really good point Leah." He smiled charmingly at me and I couldn't help but blush. "If we decide who is the best at each position then there's still two Chaser spots and a Beater spot left over and the ones that aren't the best have to take those positions even if they're rubbish at them. We stand a better chance if we are good all round so we put each player in their strongest positions."

"What if there's more than one who is the strongest at playing Seeker?" Evelina Shaw asked.

"Then it would have to go to who plays it better and the other would play their second strongest position," I replied.

"And what if the second strongest position clashes with someone else's? Do they play their third strongest or does the other play their second strongest even if that player is better at that position?" Toby Harris just has to make everything more complicated.

"We'll just cross that bridge when we come to it," Aaron frowned slightly at Toby. At least I'm not the only one who finds him seriously annoying.

That was the last class of the day so we headed back to our dorms and got ready for bed, though it was still rather early. "So, what position do your reckon everyone will play? I think I make a fair Chaser," Francesca Middleton spoke up from her bed, probably hoping to break the silence. It tends to get a little awkward in our dorm whenever I'm there. They bonded the first day while I was with Teddy and I don't think they ever knew what to make of me. Especially after the disaster of my first flying lesson.

"Robert Helmer is definitely Chaser. We only won when he was playing Keeper!" Abella replied.

"I agree. My best position is Seeker. I have loads of cousins and we all used to play over the holidays," Evelina said.

"Ignatius Burke will probably play Keeper and I know Toby Harris will be reserve. He can barely control his broom!" Francesca added.

"Aaron will play Beater," I said quietly. They all turned to look at me. "He told me when I first met him that it's his favourite position."

"You hang around with him a lot don't you?" Abella asked.

"Er...a bit I suppose. I mainly just talk to Teddy. I probably talk to him as much as any of you lot do."

"No, Leah. Whenever he talks to us it's in class and it's only ever about the work. He's really reserved around us. We don't know anything about him except how cute he is!"

"Really?" I asked surprised. I assumed he had spoken to them more than me.

"Yes!" Fran said exasperatedly. "He's so different when he's around you, as if he's known you for years."

"Yeah, he looks really relaxed around you," Evelina added.

"Oh." I didn't know how to respond. I hadn't really noticed any differences, but maybe that's because I just assumed he was a talkative person.

"So tell us about him!" Fran exclaimed.

"I don't really know much-"

"You know more than we do! Any information, even if it's just his favourite colour, just tell us!"

"Alright, alright. Calm yourselves." I smirked slightly, starting to feel more confident. "Well, he's a pureblood, but his family interact a lot with the muggle world. He's known as the Viscount of Kingsborough and is the son of an Earl. Tom Loxton in Gryffindor is his cousin-"

"I knew it! I knew they were related! They looked so similar!"

"Can I continue?" I asked amused. She nodded her head sheepishly. "He loves Quidditch and nearly his whole family have been Quidditch players. His older sister is on the Gryffindor team. She's a lot more down to Earth than Aaron and doesn't care for formalities. You wouldn't guess that she was a Lady. Um, what else? He said his favourite colour is turquoise; he loves stories about King Arthur and Merlin; he can ride a horse, but he hates it and he's really scared of vampires after one attacked some of the farmers working on their land."

"Wow."

"You know a lot about him," Evelina commented.

"Oh Merlin! He must fancy you!" Fran shouted.

I was slightly taken aback. I wanted to ask what the hell she was talking about, but my mouth wouldn't cooperate. It just kept opening and shutting like a goldfish.

"Merlin! You like him too! You're going to be the cutest couple!"

Now that got my brain to mouth channel working again. "You what?! Are you out of your mind? Yes, he's cute looking, but he's...he's so...arrogant! Yeah! And, um, he got me in trouble with Madam Hooch!"

The other three girls just raised their eyebrows at me. "Me thinks the lady doth protest too much!" Abella cried. I threw a pillow at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I stated calmly. The other three seemed to share a look before I was bombarded with pillows being flung at me. "Hey!"

And so, a pillow fight broke out. I went to sleep that night feeling a lot happier after I had finally seemed to be accepted by the girls.


End file.
